


It started from that one meeting

by cian1675



Series: Destiny [2]
Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crush, First Meetings, Gen, Howon realises he's not as straight as he thought he was, Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings, dongwoo appears briefly at the end, mentions of eunji and inguk, platonic hojong who are best friends, wooya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 13:36:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8847085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cian1675/pseuds/cian1675
Summary: A prequel to Destiny.
If someone asks Howon now, what he truly thinks of Nam Woohyun, he’ll say that Nam Woohyun is an enigma. But of course Howon is Howon, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever say this out loud to anyone, except maybe Sungjong, if his friend is determined enough to wrestle the words out of Howon.But if someone had asked him the same question a month ago, the answer would have been very different. (Or the one time Howon almost meets Woohyun, and the one time he actually does.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to Destiny, but you should read [Destiny](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8701960/chapters/19950823) first, because it'll make more sense that way. There's a reason why this is part 2 of the series instead of part 1 (and no, it's not because I wrote Destiny first lol).
> 
> Anyway, just trust me, read Destiny first, because you'll enjoy this one-shot better :)

∞

 

He has never thought much about people being gay; always figured that it was something as normal as it is for people to be straight. After all, love is love, and Howon’s never been one to judge, even if society and his father expect him to.  Still, because it’s not something that really affects his life – he likes girls, always have, since he was young – it’s something he doesn’t really think about. That is, until he meets _him_.

 

∞

 

“You’ve been staring at him for the last few minutes, you know,” Sungjong mumbles over his coffee, and Howon snaps his head back to look at his friend sitting more primly than is needed in a university café. He doesn’t say anything to Sungjong though, just gives him a _look_.

“Way to be obvious,” Sungjong rolls his eyes, but Howon gives him another bored glare, daring him to say something more. Anyone else would have left it at that, but this is Sungjong, his childhood friend who has known him for way too long, and much too well, and all Sungjong does is sigh exaggeratedly.

“You know you have a mouth right? And you can talk. So you can, you know, actually reply me instead of giving me killer stares. Which don’t work, by the way, because I know you are all bark and no bite.”

Howon gives him another glare – so yes, he has a habit of narrowing his eyes at people more than necessary but so what? – though this time he actually does say something.

“Tell me about him again.”

This time it’s Sungjong giving him the killer stare, but Howon shrugs it off. He knows Sungjong is just concerned. If it was him faced with a best friend who has a slight obsession with a certain man playing soccer in the field this café overlooks, he would be much less patient about it than Sungjong is being.

“Hyung,” Sungjong says – and that should raise an alarm, because Sungjong insists on calling him Howon whenever he can, reserving hyung only for when he feels respectful, or when he’s being serious, no guesses _which_ it is right now – “I told you what I know about fifty times already.”

Howon hears the exasperated tone in Sungjong’s voice, so he chooses not to correct him that it’s only about twenty times instead of fifty. (Such exaggeration, that boy.) What he says is instead, “Humor me.”

So Sungjong rolls his eyes with as much drama as he can manage (which is _a lot_ , if you ask Howon), and tells Howon about how he met Nam Woohyun for the fifty-first (twenty-first) time.

 

 

If someone asks Howon now, what he truly thinks of Nam Woohyun, he’ll say that Nam Woohyun is an enigma. But of course Howon is Howon, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever say this out loud to anyone, except maybe Sungjong, if his friend is determined enough to wrestle the words out of Howon.

But if someone had asked him the same question a month ago, the answer would have been very different.

The thing is, Howon never used to think that of Nam Woohyun. Or more precisely, he never thought much about Nam Woohyun, if at all. Just a month ago, the only knowledge Howon has about Woohyun is this: he knows Woohyun exists in the same way he registers that air exists – it’s there, he doesn’t think about it because there’s no reason to.

(Actually, on second thought, he probably thinks about air more than he thinks about Woohyun, because Howon pushes himself to his limits when he dances too often, and he’s always grateful for the gulps of air filling his lungs once his feet stop, so there’s that.)

Sure, he knows that Woohyun is the soccer captain, charming, good-looking, friendly and popular with girls. Even if Howon’s not the type to judge, it’s easy to think that he knows what kind of person Woohyun is with the kind of picture others paint of him. He doesn’t judge the guy – doesn’t know enough to anyway – but Howon thinks this is the kind of person he won’t be mentioned in the same sentence as, which is to say he won’t be associated with Woohyun, and that’s all he needs to know about him. It’s not that Howon thinks he’s beneath the guy; it’s just kind of the way things are. Their social circles don’t overlap, there’s no need for them to associate with each other, and it’s nothing particularly about him or Woohyun.

But after Sungjong meets Woohyun – and boy, had that been one _hilarious_ experience – Howon finds himself getting tangled in the invisible lines of Woohyun’s world. He’s not even sure how it happens, but it does, and before he knows it, Howon’s seeing Woohyun everywhere – on his way to lecture, passing by the field on his way to grab a coffee, and once, downtown at the place he usually gets his clothes.

What’s more surprising than seeing Woohyun everywhere he turns, however, is the realization Howon comes to that he’s _observing_ Woohyun every time he thinks the other isn’t looking – casually tracing the worn patches on Woohyun’s faded jacket with his eyes as the guy walks past him down the corridor, watching Woohyun dribble a ball lazily on the wet grass, and later, counting how many times Woohyun has picked up and put down yet another jacket from the clothes rack in a shop.

He’s not sure why he’s doing this, but one thing Howon discovers after weeks of observing Woohyun is this: Woohyun’s always sneaking glances at the popular campus couple when he thinks no one is looking.

Eunji and Inguk are ever so oblivious to Woohyun’s stolen glances – perhaps the same way Woohyun is oblivious to Howon’s – but as both Eunji’s and Inguk’s friend, Howon feels some sense of (perhaps misplaced) responsibility to do something about the matter. And that’s why, two hours after he hears Sungjong’s newly spiced up rendition of how he met Woohyun – two minutes after Woohyun’s soccer practice finally ends – Howon thinks it’s time to talk to the guy.

 

 

Sungjong’s story of how he meets Woohyun goes something like this (or at least, this is how the first version – the non-spiced up, non-exaggerated, not-peppered with embellished details version – had gone):

Sungjong was walking up to Sunggyu’s dorm room, ready to knock on Sunggyu’s door. He was only there because Howon had asked him to help return a CD he borrowed from Sunggyu (some male idol group because Howon wanted to try a dance cover, no other reason). At this point in the telling of the story, Sungjong will give Howon a sharp glare, as if to say, _this is all your fault_ , but Howon sits through all twenty-one variations of the retelling with just a slightly quirked eyebrow, knowing Sungjong would continue if he doesn’t interrupt.

And continue Sungjong does, describing how he had been about to knock on Sunggyu’s door when he hears noises inside the room. The first was a low, breathy “ _eunggg_ ”, followed by a long groan, then shortly after, a short gasp. Sungjong had been about to chalk it up to nothing – as much _nothing_ as one would find in university dorms, at least – ready to run back down the stairs and ask Howon to return the CD himself on another day, when he bumped into Sunggyu. Sunggyu had given him a questioning look, and Sungjong could only stand where he was, still outside the door of Sunggyu’s dorm. He had been about to explain himself, why he was there, when suddenly from behind the door, he heard –

“Harder… there…”

“… _here?_ ”

“Mhmm, ahh… yeah… _yes_ …”

In all his retelling of the story, Sungjong never mentions how he was flustered or how his ears must have turned red when he heard that, but Howon knows for a fact that that’s what would have happened, if the dust of pink on Sungjong’s cheeks whenever he reaches this part of the tale is any indication. Either way, Sungjong quickly explains that he was shocked ( _mortified_ really, if you ask Howon) to hear that, and had been about to quickly hand the CD over to Sunggyu when the other told him to come into his dorm first.

Sungjong’s reaction had been to say, “Uh, that’s fine, hyung, I’m just here to help Howon return the CD he borrowed from you” but Sunggyu seemed unaware of Sungjong’s reluctance to step into his dorm, proceeding to throw his room door wide open.

Dorm rooms in general are pretty small, and once the door was ajar, everything in the room can be clearly seen from the entrance, which was why Sungjong had probably covered his eyes the moment the door had opened. (No, Sungjong hadn’t told Howon that, but Howon can easily guess.) Still, whatever Sungjong did, he eventually caught sight of the two guys on the bed, one topless, lying face down on the mattress, and the other still fully dressed, sitting on the first guy’s thighs with his legs bracketing the other (“Straddling him, you mean,” Howon had clarified the first time and gotten a kick on his shin for it, so he doesn’t ever repeat the mistake for the next twenty times this story is retold).

It had looked weird and inappropriate, but not as inappropriate as Sungjong thought it would be (and Howon _knows_ what Sungjong was thinking, because that boy…). Anyway, with the door opened, the two guys on the bed had scrambled up into a sitting position, but they didn’t do it in the panicked we-were-just-caught-having-loud-sex way Sungjong clearly thought they would (again, another brilliant deduction from Howon, because Sungjong’s retelling is clearly skewed to make him sound cooler and more composed than he had actually been). Sunggyu had barely given the two on the bed a glance before he dumped his bag on the floor, offering Sungjong a glass of water, and Sungjong had stood there for a while before he had reached into his bag for the CD that caused all the trouble.

“Here. And thanks for the water, but I gotta go,” Sungjong had said. Sunggyu hadn’t objected, but clearly if Sungjong was the most panicked person in the room (Howon’s assumption, because of how hard Sungjong tries to sound like he was not uncomfortable _at all_ ), the next most panicked person is the topless guy who had been lying on the bed, because he had blurted, while Sungjong was turning to leave:

“It’s not what you think it is!”

Sungjong had paused then, just a fraction of a second, but that was enough time to catch the few words –

“Sungyeol’s just giving me a back massage because soccer practice was hell today.”

The rest of the story Sungjong tends to gloss over, because it’s just how he had stayed around long enough to learn that the topless guy is Nam Woohyun, and that he’s a friend of Sungyeol (Sungyeol being the guy who is Sunggyu’s roommate, and the one giving Woohyun a back massage). But that’s fine, because Howon’s heard the story enough (laughed himself to tears at Sungjong’s misunderstanding enough times) to know how it goes. And if that’s not a strange enough first impression of Woohyun, Howon wouldn’t know what is.

(And yes, it is a first impression, because all the other vague knowledge Howon has had about Woohyun before doesn’t count, since he hadn’t actually known the guy then. Not that hearing about him from Sungjong counts as _meeting_ the guy, but it’s close enough.)

 

 

Still, as far as impressions go, Woohyun hadn’t just made a strange first impression. He’s now making a very strange _second_ one as well (or _first_ , whatever).

Howon had waited near the locker room for Woohyun to finish showering – and no, it’s not that creepy, it’s just because Howon couldn’t sit by the field to wait in case Woohyun goes out through a different exit before he talks to him – and after a few “Hello, is Nam Woohyun here?”, Howon managed to get the guy to talk to him.

“How did you get into the locker room?” Woohyun asks, throwing him suspicious glances as he packs his clothes, and Howon tries not to forget what he’s here for.

“Uh, I didn’t. I’m still technically standing outside the door,” Howon points out.

Woohyun gives him another look, which on Sungjong would have transited to an eye roll, but Woohyun apparently doesn’t do those, so all Howon gets is, “Okay, whether you’re actually inside the locker room aside, why are you here?”

Then, a pause.

“Do I… know you?”

Howon immediately shakes his head.

“ _Right_. Okay. So, why are you here, whoever you are?” Woohyun asks again, zipping up his bag now that he’s done packing.

Howon can do this a couple of ways, tell him he’s here to talk about how he realized that Woohyun’s staring at Eunji too much, and how it’s inappropriate (sidestepping the fact that he might be plain nosy because this isn’t his business technically, but Eunji’s a good friend and Howon feels like he should do _something_ ). He even thought about how to do it, but now that he’s faced with the real Woohyun, the one he hadn’t talked to but had observed from a distance for weeks, Howon’s mind goes blank.

(Although Howon doesn’t talk much – just ask Sungjong – his mind is usually at least still thinking about stuff even if his lips don’t move. Not this time though. This time, his mind is actually as silent as his lips are.)

After what could have been a few seconds to a few minutes, Howon finally manages to arrange some words together to form a sentence.

“I saw you staring at Eunji.”

Woohyun gives him a puzzled blink, and Howon doesn’t understand – he had seen it with his own eyes! Seen Woohyun stare at Eunji every time he thinks she isn’t looking – but then suddenly he realizes maybe Woohyun is acting. That’ll make sense, he thinks, but then –

“Who’s Eunji?”

Okay, now Howon’s going to be going on a limb if he thinks Woohyun is acting, because the guy looks genuinely confused. Howon decides to throw him a bone.

“Uh, the girl you’ve been staring at a lot?”

“Staring?” Woohyun’s brows furrow, more unsure than angry. “Wait… did you say _girl_?”

Howon gives a pointed look, but Woohyun isn’t schooled in the many silent looks of Lee Howon the way Sungjong is, so he ends up having to explain. “Yeah. I said girl. Dude, you’ve been staring at my friend for weeks. Surely you noticed that she’s a girl…?”

Woohyun gives another slow blink, and Howon’s not prepared for what comes next.

“But if I was staring at anyone, it’ll have been a guy…?”

Now Howon’s the one confused. This look, at least, Woohyun manages to catch, because he’s saying with an amused grin –

“I’m gay.”

 

∞

 

Howon has never thought much about people being gay – never had the need to, after all – but the day after he first talks to Woohyun, learns that Woohyun had been staring at _Inguk_ , not Eunji (and hadn’t _that_ had been such a terrible misunderstanding, almost as bad as Sungjong’s), it becomes the one thing Howon can’t stop thinking about.

“How do people know if they’re gay?” Howon mumbles in the middle of dinner, and Sungjong gives him a brief glance.

“Are you going to keep asking this?” Sungjong rolls his eyes. “You’ve been at it since before dinner, and I already told you what I think: the same way people know that they’re straight.”

Howon gives a slight nod, pushing rice into his mouth. After he chews and swallows, he says, “Right, but that doesn’t answer my question. How do people know that they’re straight?”

Sungjong points his chopsticks at him, “Aren’t you straight? So how do _you_ know that you’re straight?”

Sungjong probably thinks the answer is pretty self-evident, from the way he’s just putting his chopsticks back into his bowl and starting to eat again, but Howon feels like he has just been asked a very important question.

“Repeat your question.”

Sungjong is unamused, but he does repeat the question.

“So. How. Do. You. Know. If. You. Are. Straight?”

Each word is punctuated with a jab of Sungjong’s chopsticks in Howon’s general direction, emphasizing the bored drawl of Sungjong’s voice. Howon’s heard the question before, in some other phrasing perhaps, but he’s never really thought about it, never thought it was even a _question_. But now, _now_ , bits of rice from Sungjong’s chopsticks flying at him aside, Howon’s pretty sure he finally _gets_ the question.

He’s pretty sure this is what an epiphany feels like.

“ _Am_ I though?”

“Are you _what_?” Sungjong asks, and Howon answers almost immediately.

“Am I _straight_?”

He still thinks it’s a pretty brilliant question to be asked, but clearly Sungjong doesn’t agree, because he just frowns slightly.

“Is this some soul-searching phase you’re going through in uni? Because I thought you are straight, hyung. You’ve only ever liked girls in the how-many years I’ve known you, and unless you’ve been harbouring some secret crush on a guy that I don’t know, I’m pretty sure that means you’re straight.”

Sungjong’s tone isn’t disapproving; just one of a friend trying to knock some logic into Howon’s circular train of thought, so Howon doesn’t take offense at his potentially dismissive words. Instead, his mind picks up something else.

“ _Have_ I ever had a crush on a guy before though?”

Howon’s mostly talking to himself now, and Sungjong probably recognizes it, before he throws his hands in the air.

“I’m just going to eat dinner silently while you talk to yourself in your head, Howon. Feel free to actually talk to me once you’re done being inside your head.”

 

 

It takes him a while to figure out, a whole week actually – Howon’s not the best at being in touch with his emotions and feelings and things like that – but figure it out, he eventually does.

“Sungjong.”

“Yeah?”

“The answer is yes.”

Sungjong looks up from the assignment he had been typing, raising an eyebrow in question. “What was the question?”

Right, he forgot Sungjong hadn’t been the one stewing over the same question for a week. “Whether I had a crush on a guy before,” Howon answers.

“Oh,” Sungjong replies, eyes back on his assignment. Then, a few seconds later. “Oh. _Oh_.”

Sungjong goes back to doing his assignment, and Howon his research on dance moves, but later when they’re walking out of the library, Sungjong remembers to ask, “So, who was it?”

“ _Is_ ,” Howon corrects without thinking. It should have been pretty obvious, the answer as to _who_ , but to be fair, until a week ago, Howon had never entertained the thought that he might not be straight before.

“The guy I was staring at a lot recently.”

Sungjong clearly hasn’t had practice with Howon liking anyone but girls either, because his brows crinkle. “Who?”

“Woohyun.”

 

 

 

 

 

∞

 

**Extra out-take:**

Howon had been meaning to return Sunggyu the CD he borrowed from him a while, but he keeps forgetting. He’s about to throw on a jacket to go out and do it right now, while he has time and still remembers, but then he gets a call.

“Hey, Dongwoo, what’s up?” Howon asks while tying his shoelaces. The CD is in his bag by his side, and he thinks it’ll probably take at most ten minutes to walk the short distance between his dorm and Sunggyu’s.

“Oh, nothing much, just... I’m practicing this new dance, and I was wondering if you can help me look it over, spot any mistakes I’m making so I can correct them,” Dongwoo says over the phone, laughing a little like he’s embarrassed to even be asking for this favour.

It’s just a small thing and Dongwoo has done plenty of favours for him before, so Howon agrees without thinking, hanging up quickly after. Walking down the stairs, Howon texts Sunggyu about dropping by his dorm to return him his CD, and it’s only when he reached the ground floor of his dorm does Howon belatedly realise that Dongwoo had meant he needed help _right this moment_ because he gets a message with the location of a dance studio Dongwoo had probably booked.

 _No wonder he sounded embarrassed._ _It’s the short notice,_ Howon thinks, _not the favour_. He’s about to tell Sunggyu that he’s not going over when Sunggyu replies.

_[11:11am] Cool, if I rush I’ll be back in ten, so see you then._

Okay, _now_ Howon feels bad if he tells Sunggyu that he’s suddenly unable to return the CD because he has already held on to it for too long and Sunggyu’s even rushing back just to meet him (he remembers Sunggyu being reluctant about lending him _this_ CD in particular… maybe it’s his favourite male idol group? Who knows?). Howon scratches his nape. Maybe he should tell Dongwoo that he’ll be late instead.

Typing a message to Dongwoo, Howon happens to spot Sungjong walking towards him, and suddenly gets an idea.

“Sungjong!”

“Yeah?”

“Do me a favour, will you? Bring this CD to Sunggyu’s dorm and help me return it to him. I already told him that I’m going over soon so he should be expecting it.”

“Sure,” Sungjong answers, taking the CD from Howon without questioning.

“Thanks, Sungjong,” Howon says, patting his shoulder, already turning the other direction to head to the dance studio. “I owe you dinner next time.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read Destiny before this, you should skip my notes, because there's spoilers for Destiny.  
> Also, if you haven't read Destiny, I think whatever I write below won't make much sense either.
> 
> *  
> *  
> *  
> *  
> *  
> *  
> *
> 
> (last warning for Destiny's spoilers!)
> 
> I almost turned this into something longer and way too serious, but I decided to cut it and leave it as Howon and Woohyun meeting for the first time. Maybe it's still not enough wooya, but I think it's the nature of this series... I seem to write more about other (ridiculous) stuff than the soulmate pairing lol. Well, I guess it amuses me more when Cupid!Sunggyu fails lol. Though I guess in this case it's more of Howon's (partly Dongwoo's) fault haha.


End file.
